"I let you see the parts of me that weren't all that pretty,"

"Halloween's coming up, what do you guys want to dress up as?" Cleo asked as she sat down, squeezing between Joshua and Jonah.

"I think I'm gonna go as like Catwoman or some shit," Amanda said. "I haven't decided yet though."

"We're going as Beavis and Butthead," Jonah said as he motioned between him and Joshua. "Or Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum."

"That's a good one," Ozzie mumbled. "I haven't even given thought, to be honest."

"Well, good thing Jonah has an extra Spider-Man costume sitting in his closet huh?" Cleo asked with a smirk, instantly earning an eye roll from the boy sitting directly next to Lia.

"What about you, Li?" Joshua asked, looking at the girl.

She didn't notice he'd been talking to her and instead continued typing a message out on her phone. The group just shared looks of confusion, before Ozzie gently rested his hand on her arm.

Lia jumped as she wasn't expecting the sudden touch, before glancing at Ozzie. He just sent her a look, to which she then took notice of how everyone was staring at her. "What?" She asked, "Sorry."

"I asked what you wanted to be for Halloween," Joshua repeated before throwing a grape in his mouth.

"That's coming up, huh?" She asked.

"Have you not been listening for the last five minutes?" Amanda asked. She then frowned, reaching forward and pressing the back of her hand to Lia's forehead. "Do you have a fever or something?"

Lia swatted the girl's hand away, shaking her head. "No, I'm just sleepy." She admitted, "I was up all night."

"Talking to Ethan?" Cleo asked with a smirk.

"No his codename is homework, remember?" Amanda joined in, high-fiving the other girl.

"I was actually doing homework, and Ozzie was with me." Lia pointed a finger at the guy next to her.

"Yeah we were up till like three or four in the morning," Ozzie confirmed.

"Okay, well either way, what are you going to be for Halloween?" Joshua changed the subject.

"I haven't a clue," Lia answered.

"I think you could be Merida," Jonah said, motioning to his head. "You got the hair."

"The hair color, not the actual hair." Lia shook her head, "No, I've already been Merida plenty of times for Halloween."

"Daphne, from Scooby-Doo." Cleo offered, taking a bite of her food.

"You could be the Poison Ivy to my Catwoman?" Amanda asked, then let out a loud gasp. "No, wait! I'll be Harley Quinn and we can be the best dressed on Halloween!!!"

"Best dressed where?" Ozzie asked, "Also, why are we only naming redheads for costumes for Lia? She can easily dress as someone who doesn't have red hair."

"Jonah started it," Joshua said.

"Did not! I mentioned one character that happened to have red hair and everyone started bouncing ideas off of that," Jonah defended, throwing a grape at the other guy.

"Hey! Do not start a food war while I'm sitting in the middle of you two dickwads," Cleo said, slapping the both of them on the arm.

"Sorry Cleo," The two said in unison.

Lia shrugged, tapping her fingers on the table. "I don't know if I'm dressing up," She admitted. "I might just stay home on Halloween."

"What?!" Joshua and Amanda spoke at the same time.

"No, honey. There's a mixer on Halloween at one of the nearby frats and you are crazy if you think we're not going." Amanda shook her head.

"Remember what happened at the last mixer I attended?" Lia asked, referring to the night all of them had yet to talk about.

"Lia, when you have us three to protect you, that Isaiah kid won't do shit," Joshua said.

"You didn't see his muscles," Cleo said.

"I don't need to! There's three of us and technically Amanda counts as one of them with the way she fights." He motioned to the blonde, who sent him a look.

"How do you know how I fight?"

"Well, considering I'm a victim of your hands and you're only messing with you hit me, I'd hate to be the person on the other end of it when you're genuinely angry," He explained.

Cleo nodded her head to the side, nodding in agreement.

"You're scared of me, aren't you?" Amanda asked, leaning forward on the table.

"To be honest, Mandy I think all of us are," Jonah cut in, scooting slightly closer to Cleo.

"Fair enough," The girl just agreed, putting her attention back on her food.

"Seriously, though, Li. If Isaiah is what you're afraid of you'll be fine. This time Joshua and Jonah won't be late, plus we got Chad's crew." Ozzie turned his attention to his best friend.

"I appreciate that, Oz. But I shouldn't have to rely on you guys to save me from some crummy ex-boyfriend." Lia sighed in defeat.

"E-ex-boyfriend?" Joshua asked, glancing between Ozzie and Lia.

"Where have you been, fuckface? This has been public information," Cleo said.

"How was I supposed to know that was her ex? What's he look like again?" Joshua then asked.

"See that table over there with the group of douchebag-looking men?" Amanda asked, pointing a fry in the direction of the table near the far corner.

Joshua turned, his eyes finding them almost immediately. "Yes," He answered.

"See the guy in the dark red shirt?" Amanda then asked.

"The one that's about to rip at any second?" He asked in return.

"Yep," Cleo said.

"Wait-" Joshua then looked to the group. "That-that's him?"

Nobody said anything, but Ozzie nodded with his lips pressed together. Joshua's eyes widened, his jaw dropping in shock. "He looks like a fucking Greek god!"

Lia couldn't help but roll her eyes, standing up abruptly. She snatched her backpack off of the ground, not hesitating to walk out the doors.

"Great going, fuckface." Cleo slapped him on the back of the head. She and Amanda made eye contact before the two got up, following suit.

This left Ozzie, Joshua, and Jonah at the table alone, where Ozzie looked at the door in defeat. He wanted to go after her but knew Lia already probably wouldn't appreciate the two girls bombarding her as is. He left it alone, shaking his head in disappointment as he glanced at Joshua.

"Great going," He repeated Cleo's words, to which Joshua just looked at him in confusion.

"What'd I do?" He asked.

"You are the slowest human being I've ever met in my life, Josh." Jonah shook his head, "This guy basically assaulted our friend and you're talking about how attractive he is."

"I don't find him attractive, I just think he has the characteristics of a Greek god." Joshua failed to explain, "Ozzie, you're going to look at that man and say he doesn't?"

"We're not saying you're wrong, Josh. We're just saying that was not the right timing at all." Ozzie told him gently.

"Does that mean she's never going to go for a nerd like me?" Joshua sighed in defeat, changing the subject slightly.

Jonah and Ozzie made eye contact, shock written on both of their features. The two then burst out laughing, catching the attention of a few people nearby.

"That's a good one, Presley." Jonah laughed as he slapped the other guy's back.

"What? Dude, I'm serious." Joshua said, his face showing he wasn't finding their laughs amusing.

This caused the laughter to stop, the two sharing another look before Ozzie looked at him in shock. "Wait- you- you like Lia?" He asked, pointing a finger at the door the girls exited from.

"You didn't know?" Jonah asked in surprise, "He's the most obvious dude ever."

"You realize that she and Ethan are like-" Ozzie stopped, motioning to the table where Ethan and his friends sat.

"Her and Ethan are dating?" Joshua asked, his brows pushed together.

Ozzie looked at him in disbelief, letting out a dry laugh before shaking his head. "You're hopeless," Was all the boy said, standing up from the table. He grabbed his backpack, gathering his tray and the trays of the other girls before walking away.

This left Jonah and Joshua, as usual since the two were always together.

"What? What did I say?" Joshua asked, earning an eye roll from Jonah.

"Dude, you need to work on the right place at the right time." Jonah pursed his lips.

"So you don't think Lia would go for me?" He asked, causing a groan to leave Jonah.

"Dude. How are you around us all the time and unable to see that she and Ethan are together?" Jonah asked.

"They're together?" He asked.

"Well, no, but-"

"So I have a chance?" Joshua cut the other boy off.

Jonah took a deep breath, "I now understand why my sister hates you. Dude, let me spell it out for you-" He turned his body. He then pointed to Isaiah, "That is her ex-boyfriend. That alone gives you a big fat no. As you said in your own words 'He looks like a Greek God'."

"He's an ex for a reason," Was all Joshua responded with, eating the last grape from his plate.

"Secondly-" Jonah held a finger up, "That is who she spends the majority of her time with." He then pointed a finger in the direction of Ethan, who was completely unaware he was being talked about.

"And? He looks nerdier than me. If anything that just shows I have a chance." Joshua shrugged.

"Her best friend is Oswald, who is always compared to Andrew fucking Garfield," Jonah continued, ignoring Joshua. "And she looks like she could be a model on Vogue. Realistically speaking, do you think you have a chance with her?"

"If you know Lia the way the rest of us know Lia, then we all know she doesn't give two shits about what people look like," Joshua said with a shrug.

"You're so beyond delusional, it's insane." Jonah sent him a look as he stood up, finally done with the conversation himself.

Joshua just stared at him in confusion, before shrugging and going back to the rest of his meal. "If I'm delusional, then let me be delusional." He spoke to himself, drinking the last of his chocolate milk.

++

"She hasn't come out of her room in a while," Cleo whispered. She moved over to let Ozzie into the room, the boy sending a wave to Amanda who sat on the couch. "She says she's fine but there's something going on."

"Isaiah's a touchy subject, she'll be okay," Ozzie just mumbled in response. He found his way over to Lia's bedroom door.

He stopped right in front of the door, knocking a few times. "It's Ozzie," He said. 

"Come in," Lia mumbled from the other side of the door, to which he quickly sent one last glance toward Cleo and Amanda before walking in.

Shutting the door behind him, he saw she was examining her back in the body-length mirror. The bruise on her back didn't hurt her the same way it had a couple of weeks ago, although it was still in the healing process.

"It's so ugly," Lia shakingly said, her eyes turning glossy.

"Bruises always look worse as they're healing. It shows they're healing." Ozzie told her. He walked over to her bed, sitting on the edge. "It's going to be gone before you know it."

"I know, I just-" Lia stopped for a second as a stray tear fell down her cheek. "How am I supposed to dress up when I can't even show half of my back?"

"Is that what's upsetting you?" Ozzie asked, watching her carefully.

"Well, partially. I mean it was just annoying how Joshua talked so highly of Isaiah." Lia shrugged, "It shouldn't bother me but it does. I don't want my own friends thinking things about him when he's really just a pretty privileged rich boy who gets whatever he wants."

"You gotta realize Joshua's like this way with everything. He's just dumb and oblivious sometimes. Not to mention he's also a pretty rich boy." Ozzie shrugged.

"Yeah, I'd just rather exclude myself from the conversation completely than try to sit through it and let my anger show how I truly feel," Lia told him, moving her hair from her back to her front.

"I guarantee the bruise will be gone by the time Halloween comes up," Ozzie spoke, changing the subject. "It's almost gone now as that's why it looks as bad as it does."

"You think so?" She asked, turning to him.

"Sure," Ozzie said. "Plus if there's that off chance that it isn't gone within the next few weeks, we can just either find some really good makeup to cover it up or have a backup costume in case. One that covers your back."

Lia just stared at him, not saying anything. She watched as she pulled his phone out to Google some Halloween costume ideas. "So what were you wanting to be? There's no way you haven't thought about it before."

"Well, I was thinking Kim Possible," Lia answered. She walked over and sat down next to Ozzie, watching as he scrolled on his phone.

"Going with the red hair theme?" He joked, earning an eye roll from her.

"It's just a coincidence that she has red hair," Lia said.

"So you won't be able to dress up as her if the bruise is still there?" He then asked, to which she just pulled her phone out. She looked up Kim Possible, showing him photos for reference. "Ah, I see." He nodded, putting his attention back on his phone.

He scrolled for quite a while, finally stopping on a princess costume. "Why don't we just dress you up as a princess?"

"Merida?" Lia asked with a roll of her eyes.

"No. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Disney princess. We can maybe make your own costume?" He offered, "I hate to brag, but I did take a few sewing classes in middle school."

"Which was how long ago?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look my mom taught me to make clothing okay?" He gave in, "She's a bit of a fashion junkie, and instead of wanting us to go out and buy new clothes that all the other kids were getting she made our clothes every year. I may have just taken a bit of interest in it."

"That's actually so cute," Lia said, smiling cutely at the boy. "Who knew Oswald Hale was into fashion."

"Okay, Ophelia Murphy, I'm not into fashion I just prefer to make my clothes so I know they'll fit," He joked, shoving her gently. "But seriously, why don't we just make you a costume so we don't have to get you two? It can be any color you want, any style. And it guarantees that nobody else will have it since you made it."

"You'd do that for me?" She asked, feeling nothing but grateful at that moment.

"Of course I would, Lia. You're my best friend." He told her sincerely, sending her a small smile.

He was honest when he told her that she was his best friend. Ozzie was beyond grateful he was put in charge of helping Lia move in on the move-in day. The timing couldn't have been better, and they almost instantly got along. He hadn't wanted to be a helper if he were being honest, as it was just extra work he didn't want to do. But his mother convinced him, and he was more than grateful she had.

If that wouldn't have happened, they probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. Ozzie wouldn't change any of it for the world, and he would do anything to keep his best friend happy.

++

2510 words.

I love Ozzie and Lia <3

* This chapter is not edited *